Donte Whitner said on the "Up and Adams" podcast on Monday that he had very high expectations for Jim Harbaugh in his first year as head coach of the
Los Angeles Chargers . "Jim Harbaugh is going to have the Chargers in the AFC Championship... in his FIRST year." 3x Pro Bowl Safety @DonteWhitner is extremely high on the #Chargers now that his former #49ers HC Jim Harbaugh is running things @heykayadams pic.twitter.com/W4BqanzODG "Jim Harbaugh's a winner," the former Pro Bowl safety said. "First of all, he has his quarterback, and when you put Jim Harbaugh with a quarterback — he's the quarterback whisperer, like he was with J.J. McCarthy, like he was with Colin Kaepernick. Any quarterback that was under the tutelage of Jim Harbaugh, he figures out what your strengths are and he tailors his offense around that and the running game." Whitner played under Harbaugh for three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-13. He said that the Chargers' defense being led by star linebackers Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack helps the team as well. Whitner is right that the 60-year-old has had massive success during his stops in the Bay Area and with Michigan. During his four seasons with the Niners, Harbaugh earned one AP Coach of the Year honor and led the team to one
Super Bowl appearance and three playoff berths. In his nine years with the Wolverines, Harbaugh won an AP Coach of the Year award and Big Ten Coach of the Year honor, while capturing four bowl game victories, including a national championship in January. Having one-time Pro Bowler Justin Herbert under center is a good start for any offense, but Harbaugh enters his tenure with a unit lacking much
fire power. The Chargers saw running back Austin Ekeler (Washington Commanders), Keenan Allen (Chicago Bears) and Mike Williams (New York Jets) depart Los Angeles this offseason. Among the notable additions thus far have been running back Gus Edwards and tight ends Hayden Hurst and Will Dissly. The Chargers offense ranked 18th in total yards (329.4) and 21st in scoring (20.4 points per game), last season, though Herbert was limited to a career-low 13 games due to injury. Williams suffered a season-ending torn ACL in Week 3, leading to Joshua Palmer taking over as the second option behind Allen. Palmer missed six games with a knee injury, Allen was out for four contests and Ekeler missed three contests as well, as Los Angeles finished last in the AFC West at 5-12. There's been a massive number of offseason moves already and the NFL Draft is still over two weeks away. With the likes of the Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans looking like some of the top contenders in the AFC, Whitner's prediction for Harbaugh is far-fetched at best.